The guard tried to get to his feet to sound the alarm, but the human tide made it impossible. They were trampling over him. The world had suddenly gone mad. It was a nightmare that seemed to have no end.
When the dazed guard finally managed to stagger to his feet, he pushed his way through the bedlam, reached the pedestal, and stood there, staring in disbelief.
The Lucullan diamond had disappeared.
So had the pregnant lady and the electrician.
Tracy removed her disguise in a stall in the public washroom in Oosterpark, blocks away from the factory. Carrying the package wrapped in brown paper, she headed for a park bench. Everything was moving perfectly. She thought about the mob of people scrambling for the worthless zircons and laughed aloud. She saw Jeff approaching, wearing a dark gray suit; the beard and mustache had vanished. Tracy leapt to her feet. Jeff walked up to her and grinned. “I love you,” he said. He slipped the Lucullan diamond out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Tracy. “Feed this to your friend, darling. See you later.”
Tracy watched him as he strolled away. Her eyes were shining. They belonged to each other. They would take separate planes and meet in Brazil, and after that, they would be together for the rest of their lives.
Tracy looked around to make sure no one was observing, then she unwrapped the package she held. Inside was a small cage holding a slate-gray pigeon. When it had arrived at the American Express office three days earlier, Tracy had taken it to her suite and released the other pigeon out the window and watched it clumsily flutter away. Now, Tracy took a small chamois sack from her purse and placed the diamond in it. She removed the pigeon from its cage and held it while she care fully tied the sack to the bird’s leg.
“Good girl, Margo. Take it home.”
A uniformed policeman appeared from nowhere. “Hold it! What do you think you’re doing?”
Tracy’s heart skipped a beat. “What’s—what’s the trouble, officer?”
His eyes were on the cage, and he was angry. “You know what the trouble is. It’s one thing to feed these pigeons, but it’s against the law to trap them and put them in cages. Now, you just let it go before I place you under arrest.”
Tracy swallowed and took a deep breath. “If you say so, Officer.” She lifted her arms and tossed the pigeon into the air. A lovely smile lit her face as she watched the pigeon soar, higher and higher. It circled once, then headed in the direction of London, 230 miles to the west A homing pigeon averaged forty miles an hour, Gunther had told her, so Margo would reach him within six hours.
“Don’t ever try that again,” the officer warned Tracy.
“I won’t,” Tracy promised solemnly. “Never again.”
Late that afternoon, Tracy was at Schiphol Airport, moving toward the gate from which she would board a plane bound for Brazil. Daniel Cooper stood off in a corner, watching her, his eyes bitter. Tracy Whitney had stolen the Lucullan diamond. Cooper had known it the moment he heard the report. It was her style, daring and imaginative. Yet, there was nothing that could be done about it. Inspector van Duren had shown photographs of Tracy and Jeff to the museum guard. “Nee. Never seen either of them. The thief had a beard and a mustache and his cheeks and nose were much fatter, and the lady with the diamonds was dark-haired and pregnant.”
Nor was there any trace of the diamond. Jeff’s and Tracy’s persons and baggage had been thoroughly searched.
“The diamond is still in Amsterdam,” Inspector van Duren swore to Cooper. “We’ll find it.”
No, you won’t, Cooper thought angrily. She had switched pigeons. The diamond had been carried out of the country by a homing pigeon.
Cooper watched helplessly as Tracy Whitney made her way across the concourse. She was the first person who had ever defeated him. He would go to hell because of her.
As Tracy reached the boarding gate, she hesitated a moment, then turned and looked straight into Cooper’s eyes. She had been aware that he had been following her all over Europe, like some kind of nemesis. There was something bizarre about him, frightening and at the same time pathetic. Inexplicably, Tracy felt sorry for him. She gave him a small farewell wave, then turned and boarded her plane.